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Wednesday, August 25, 2010

HERMENEUTICS 101: THE NEPHILIM AND THE FLOOD

George Offerman

After the expulsion from the garden, it did not take much time for man to populate the earth, and as such grew an army of humans. Satan was also busy during that time introducing all manner of evil as he understood that if the bloodline of mankind was so infected with sin, the promised ‘savior’ could not be born. Satan also understands God well enough that for prophecy to be fulfilled, all the conditions need to be met, and this was the prime mover in his motivation to destroy this new race. God ultimately responded with the flood, and thwarted Satan’s first attempt to kill this prophecy.

The Nephilim

When men began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, The sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose.
Then the LORD said, "My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days will be a hundred and twenty years."
The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them.
They were the heroes of old, men of renown. Genesis 6:1-7

The identity and nature of the Nephilim is one of the greatest controversies in Biblical studies. The verse referring to the ‘sons of God’ has been interpreted by many as incarnate demons, and the verse in Jude 6 is used to convey this:

"And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day."

The problem with this interpretation is whether angels have or had the ability to materialize into bodies that were ‘fully functional’ or if they possessed certain individuals and passed on their evil natures. Either way, these demons overstepped their boundaries and are not allowed to interact with humanity ever again.

The nephilim was Satan’s attempt at polluting the race of man and he was so successful that God decided to wipe out his creation, man, from the face of the earth. There was one family that was not polluted and they were given the task of carrying on the bloodline of the eventual Savior. It was up to Noah to carry on this bloodline and he was given the prophecy of the flood.

The story of the nephilim is important due to the fact it has parallels to Revelation, in that Satan continues to inhibit the birth of those individuals (the 144,000) so as to render God’s prophecy invalid. Instead of infecting humans with evil spirits, Satan has unleashed abortion on demand which ultimately has a greater evil effect than even possession. Regardless of whether the nephilim were offspring of incarnated demons or mere demonic possessions, Satan was willing to sacrifice many in his army to forward his agenda. This goes on to show the ruthlessness of this creature, and how he is totally fixated on himself and his well being.

The Flood

The account of the flood is covered from Genesis 6:5 to 9:7 and is too lengthy to reproduce here. God found favor with Noah, and instructed him to build an ark. God told Noah what he was going to do, and why he was doing it, and Noah became the first True Prophet of God. Satan was now aware of God’s plan and who was tasked with carrying on the bloodline. Noah, as a righteous man, would have been ostracized and isolated from nearly everyone, and this most likely was a form of torture sent by the evil one. There is much speculation as the amount of time it took to build the ark, but it must have been many decades and much occurred during this time to potentially thwart this activity.

The antediluvians were very aware of the ark, and as a prophet, Noah must have warned them over and over again of God’s plan. Given the fact that the Antediluvians were committing every conceivable sin, and seeing no repercussion (similar to today), Noah’s warnings carried little to no meaning for them. The Antediluvians also must have unmercifully mocked and derided Noah, as they were doing the work of their master in using this form of persecution to dissuade Noah from completing his assigned task.

Genesis was clear that rain had never fallen on the earth before, as water came in the form of dew every morning. Making an ark, and expecting an event never witnessed before was also in the realm of faith (similar to asteroids and the calamities in Revelation are today) and must have been a factor in the derision sent Noah’s way. Noah, nonetheless persevered in building the ark, as well as preaching to the Antediluvians of the impending disaster. None of them listened, and none of them entered the ark when it was time.

Judgment occurred when God sealed Noah and his family into the ark, and it was on the seventh day when the rains began to fall. God’s sealing of the ark represented two things: 1) Noah and his family were inside, having made their choice, and 2) The Antediluvians were on the outside, having sealed their fate (similar to the mark of the beast). When the rains began to fall, the Antediluvians must have been filled with dread and fear, and only then did they realize their actions and foolishness had come at a great price. So it will be at the time of the seventh trumpet of Revelation for those who took the mark, believing they ‘saved’ their lives.

These events are written for our benefit and to teach us the lessons of antiquity, and that God is unchangeable, and is actively involved in human affairs. The times we currently live in have been described by many as similar to Noah, and there is great evidence that this description is accurate and true. This ought to give one pause, and to ponder what may be in store if we do not call out for forgiveness and change our ways. The great clock of the Living God is ticking, and Like Noah, one day the age of salvation will come to an end, and the ‘door’ will close. We need to be on the right side of that door when it happens.

About Me

I was in Catholic Seminary for 4 years, and left in the mid 80's. I have been involved in health care since that time, having worked in psychiatric units, community mental health centers, and ran my own private practice for over 15 years. I have continued with my interst in Biblical studies, especially in the area of prophecy. I also took an interest in finances, initially to help out my married clinents who had financial difficulties.